“She must have thrown one down from heaven,” Cole Menker said in his social media post.

The brothers have been fishing and hunting since they were young. On Saturday, they were practicing for an upcoming Mid-Ohio Saugeye Trail fish tournament when the muskie, a type of Pike, caught Menker’s hook.

Sparkle Comics from Dayton, and their sister brand Blood Scream Comics, produce original comic books based classic toys and horror movies, as well as their own content. Information available at SparkleComics.com.

Brassfield founded Sparkle Comics with friend and fellow comics enthusiast Jason Young in late 2016. The two already had a history of making comic books.

“When I was a kid, I had a ongoing comic that I would make called 'Robo Raccoon.'” Brassfield told Dayton.com. “It was about a space adventure raccoon, much like Rocket Raccoon, who would team up with other space tie-ins. So one issue would have like Boba Fett from Star Wars in it. And then the next issue would have Frankenstein's monster and all kinds of stuff.”

Sparkle Comics from Dayton, and their sister brand Blood Scream Comics, produce original comic books based classic toys and horror movies, as well as their own content. Information available at SparkleComics.com.

Jason Young, who has worked at Maverick’s Cards and Comics in Kettering for over a decade, has also made comics for most of his life.

Brassfield and Young were working on a book together when the idea came to them—why not produce a line of high quality, professional comic books with all the talented friends they know?

Sparkle Comics from Dayton, and their sister brand Blood Scream Comics, produce original comic books based classic toys and horror movies, as well as their own content. Information available at SparkleComics.com.

“During one of our meetings, while we were scribbling down notes and story ideas, we came up with the idea of seeing if our like-minded friends wanted to join us and start making comics based on toys and horror movie films and stuff that we love,” Brassfield recalls.

Sparkle Comics has since released original titles as well as books based on toys from the ‘80s such as Defenders of the Planets and Adventure Man. The company has also produced comics with a Dayton connection, such as Wolf Hunter, which is based on a Dayton-made 2001 B horror movie.

Sparkle Comics from Dayton, and their sister brand Blood Scream Comics, produce original comic books based classic toys and horror movies, as well as their own content. Information available at SparkleComics.com.

The company has also released over a half-dozen titles as part of their adult imprint, Blood Scream Comics. The sister brand specializes in comics based on horror movies and other books with adult themes and situations.

Brassfield says he and Young have a simple goal with their comic books. “When we are gone, we want these comics to be discovered by new readers for generations and centuries.”

Sparkle Comics from Dayton, and their sister brand Blood Scream Comics, produce original comic books based classic toys and horror movies, as well as their own content. Information available at SparkleComics.com.

To help acheive this goal, he says Sparkle Comics puts 100% of their profits back into the company.

“Everything that we make just helps Sparkle Comics to keep going,” he explains.

All that hard work is starting to pay off for Sparkle Comics. Brassfield says he and Young have gotten a lot of great feedback.

“We get a lot of great support from readers, or as we call them, ‘Sparklers,’” Brassfield says. “The overwhelming response has been all positive. People are excited when we release books. And outside of Dayton and Ohio, we have gotten great responses. We've had people order our stuff literally all over the world.”

Sparkle Comics from Dayton, and their sister brand Blood Scream Comics, produce original comic books based classic toys and horror movies, as well as their own content. Information available at SparkleComics.com.

Brassfield says Sparkle Comics has a bunch of good stuff coming down the pike. Such as Licántropo, which is set to be released in time for Gem City Comic Con this month.

“Licántropo is based on the work of Paul Naschy, who is like Spain's Boris Karloff basically,” Brassfield says. “We're also working on our first original title for Blood Scream Comics, which is called The Book of Whoa! It’s like a Tales from the Crypt horror anthology kind of book.”

“I think comics are on an upswing again. For a while, comics had slid down the priority pole of entertainment because of the gluttony of the ‘90s when they had all these gimmicks. ‘The Death of Superman’ and things like that. I think people got burnt by that, so there was a dip for a while, but I do think that it's on an upswing again,” Brassfield says.

“But we are also now seeing a rise in independent comics, not your Marvel and DC, but guys who are doing it themselves and delivering high quality comics to readers. There's the mainstream comics that are bringing people in, but then they're discovering these independents.”

Road reopens after jackknifed semi spills alcohol across U.S. 35 in Eaton

Published: Monday, March 19, 2018 @ 1:40 AMBy:
Breaking News Staff

ON SCENE: Semi splits, spills load of alcohol in Preble County

EATON — UPDATE @ 6:15 a.m: U.S. 35 has reopened after being closed due to a crash where a jackknifed semi spilled alcohol across the roadway early Monday morning.

UPDATE @ 5:33 a.m: U.S. 35 between Lexington Road and Main Street is expected to open in the next hour or so after being closed for over four hours due to a jackknifed semi spilling alcohol on the roadway, according to Eaton police.

Officials say two semis were involved in the crash around 1 a.m. A semi carrying 40,000 pounds of paper was attempting to turn into the nearby International Paper Company when the other semi carrying the alcohol swerved to avoid hitting the rear of the first semi-truck, causing it to jackknife.

The jackknifed semi landed in a residential front yard with the truck split in half, causing the alcohol to spill.

Neither of the truck drivers were injured as a result of the incident and the property was not damaged.

Eaton police do not have an time for when the road will reopen, stating it will be closed for “several hours.”

The detour for this closure, per officials, is Lexington Road to Barron Street.

Officials continue to investigate the crash.

INITIAL REPORT

A semi-truck has reportedly spilled bottles of alcohol across U.S. 35 in Eaton early Monday morning, according to officials.

The incident was dispatched around 1 a.m. in the 900 block of Eaton Richmond Pike, per initial reports.

The spill will reportedly have the road closed near Woodland Drive for a while.

We have a crew on the way to the scene and will continue to update this story with additional details about the ordeal.

Keowee Street north of Stanley Avenue, bridge closed until 2019. The official detour is: Keowee Street to Stanley Avenue to I-75 to Wagner Ford Road and back to Dixie. More information is available here.

Stewart Street Ramp to US 35 East, RAMP CLOSURE March 28 - Sept 30, 2018. The official detour is: Stewart Street to Edwin C. Moses Boulevard to I-75 north to US 35 west to James H. McGee Blvd. to US 35 east.

SR 48 between First Street and Riverdale Street, Lane closures March 19 - April 1. One lane will remain open in each direction.

I-75 north Ramp to US 35 west, RAMP CLOSURE, March 12 - Sept. 30. The official detour is: I-75 north to US 35 east to Jefferson/Main Street to Ludlow Street to US 35 west.

I-75 north Ramp to US 35 west and east, Lane width restriction until Apr. 1, 2018. One lane will remain open on the ramp with a width of 11 feet.